Lagos introduces bondsmen in bail system

Lagos State introduced yesterday bondsmen into its criminal justice system to make bail more accessible to anyone charged with a criminal offence.

This followed the coming into force of the Bondsmen Regulations, 2011, made in line with Section 138 of the state’s Administration of Criminal Justice Law.

The section states: “The Chief Judge may, by regulation, register and license individuals or corporate bodies or persons to act as Bondsperson within the jurisdiction of the court in which they are registered.”

A detainee granted bail could ask a bondsperson to stand as surety for them. The bondsperson will guarantee the deposit of money required as bail condition and will verify the particulars of any defendant or suspect granted temporary freedom to ensure they do not jump bail.

Speaking at the First Stakeholders Summit on Creation of Bondsmen, Lagos Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, said a statutory board to be headed by a retired High Court judge would be set up to supervise the activities of the bondsmen, who will charge a small percentage of the bail amount from a defendant.

She said prospective bondsperson would be thoroughly screened before they are registered.

“When the system is fully operational, I am optimistic that it will speed up the dispensation of justice and reduce congestion in our prisons,” she said.

Lagos Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice Ade Ipaye said with the bondsmen, touting would be reduced and prisons decongested.

He said: “Over the years, the inability of indigent defendants to perfect their bail conditions has led to an increase in touting and other undesirable practices and outcomes around and even outside the criminal justice system.

“With the coming into force of the Bondsperson Regulations, 2011 and the ongoing efforts of the Criminal Justice Sector Reform Committee to review and reform our bail system, a radical transformation of criminal justice administration in Lagos State is imminent.”

A professor of law, Taiwo Osipitan (SAN), pointed out aspects of the Bondsmen Law that needs a review.

They include the issue of interest on money deposited in banks as bail bonds; the requirement that anyone convicted of any offence cannot be a bondsperson and who qualifies to be one.

He said: “Let there be interest added to the money, even if it is lower than CBN’s interest rates. ‘Any offence’ in the law should be re-written as ‘fraud or dishonesty’ because even breaking traffic law is an offence. Stakeholders should agree on the minimum qualification for a bondsperson and a training school should be set up where they can acquire professional knowledge, so that it does not become ‘all comers’ affair.”